Broxtowe Borough Council slapped down by Ombudsman

Councillors bullied, harassed and lied to street trader

Cllr Crow refuses to apologise, blames everyone else

Stephanie Hather is the sort of person you’d think would be extolled in the highest terms by Conservatives, especially those of a Thatcherite bent. A small-business-creating entrepreneur and single mother, she is the very model of a self-starting individual trying to make her way in life independently.

It was therefore a shock when she found that bringing a business to Kimberley didn’t result in open-arms from the local Conservatives councilors, but a systematic attack of such pettiness, nastiness and – it seems –downright corruption that the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has just ruled Broxtowe Borough Council is guilty of ‘maladministration and injustice’, dishonesty, and other criticisms. Which is exactly what we’ve been writing about for some time. Let’s go back to October 2016.

That’s when Steph first decided to take her business –a jacket potato stall- up to Kimberley. She’d successfully ran the stall in Stapleford –also in Broxtowe – without any concerns. She expected the same response in Kimberley- where she’d lived all her life -and assumed when Broxtowe Borough Council referred the application for a trial period it would be a mere formality. Broxtowe’s three councilors – Richard Robinson (Labour), Mel Crow (Conservative) and Shane Easom (Conservative) were duly asked – Robinson immediately responded saying he was happy for Steph to have a trial, Easom didn’t seemingly respond, but Crow wasn’t happy, claiming that the stall would impact on existing businesses.

Indeed, Steph’s stall in Stapleford had been lauded by local councilor Richard Macrae (Independent) who noted the increase in footfall the van created and the subsequent benefits this conferred onto other business ‘Plus, no one was doing what I was doing” Steph explains “I run a convenience outlet, not a place to come and have a sit down. How it would be competing against other businesses is beyond me” No evidence other than anecdotal was given for this –nevertheless, the trial was cancelled a day later.

Just like that, a business was stopped from trading. That wonderfully useful and ultimately meaningless explanation of ‘unforeseen circumstances’ was given, and when Steph pressed for more detail, none was forthcoming. Councillor Crow had effectively kicked her out, and wasn’t willing to explain why.

Steph, obviously bewildered and out of pocket after this, turned to Councillor Robinson for support. He was shocked at the way Steph had been treated, and took her case up. He won her the right for another trial, one day a week, for 12 weeks. Problem sorted, yes?

No. Here’s where it gets weird, and where the smell of corruption moves from a slight whiff to a full-on stink.

Steph turns up to her pitch to find that the council bollards blocking her pitch were padlocked, meaning she couldn’t move them to access her pitch as was originally arranged. She rings Broxtowe, who explain it’s not their padlocks. Nevertheless, they get to Kimberley and use bolt-cutters to chop through the chain, and put on new , council padlocks and give Steph a key. “they had no idea who had put the locks on” Steph explains “It was obviously to stop me trading”.

Kimberley Town Council, who were almost definitely behind the bollard-chains, then upped the pettiness. “You’re parking on some ornamental mosaic tiles’ they claimed, despite the very clear fact that Steph wasn’t. “You need a dropped kerb” they moaned –despite the fact there was already one in place. The determined pettiness was off the scale.

Then, in July 2017, a three-tiered planter was placed on her pitch. When she queried why these had been moved there, she was told that that was there proper home – they’d only been temporarily moved to make room for Christmas decorations. Now, local authorities sometime get a bad rap regarding inefficiency, but taking 7 months to move a planter is something else.

Things got personal. Kimberly Town Councillor John Sissons visited her van and, in public, told her ‘You and (Councillor) Robinson have got your faces in the paper –now piss off”. He then took to Facebook to launch a tirade against Steph (below). This is a public figure, and one that in 2015 told the Eastwood Advertiser he was ‘shocked at the level of bullying and harassment’ at Kimberley Town Council. Here’s some choice Facebook moments from the delightful Sissons (click each image to read):

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“I was born and bred in Kimberley” Steph explains “They are meant to represent me and support small businesses, not abuse me”

Steph doggedly pursued her complaint through the council, despite numerous attempts to stonewall her “They were obviously hoping I’d lose interest and go away. But I have seen corruption in action in other work I’ve done, and I’ve always been disgusted by it. I wasn’t going to go away”.

The complaint overran massively with Broxtowe trying to push it onto Kimberley Town Council, who in turn passed the buck back to Broxtowe. The whole process was an utter shambles. £200 was offered to Steph in an attempt to make her drop the complaint.

“It’s not about the money” she explains “There is something much more important at stake here”. She continued to pursue her complaint.

The Ombudsman was duly contacted, and took up the case. They were not happy at what they found. The subsequent report was issued to the council in August, but not put in the public domain until November, when it was sneaked out in committee notes. It is, especially for an organization that usually couches criticism in measured language, scathing. (See page 33 onwards here).

From the LGO report

“We’ve done nothing wrong” claimed Councillor Shane Eason in October 2017, before using the Donald Trump method of obfuscation “It has become a political witch-hunt”. Not so, claim the LGO. Yet not an iota of responsibility or regret expressed by the Kimberley Councillors.

Broxtowe have now agreed to pay a paltry £600 to settle the matter, and an apology given. Not from Cllr Crow, however, but from an officer. Indeed, the cowardly Councillor still refuses to accept responsibility for her actions, blaming officers for the mess ““I think the whole thing is a great shame. Due diligence was not done, and it should have been done by the council officers.” she told the Nottingham Post. This is spineless, dishonest and testament to Councillor Crow’s lack of self-awareness.

Kimberley Town Council also continue to deny they did anything wrong. They are in a pretty poor state anyway, with mass resignations, intercine squabbling and a febrile atmosphere at meetings. Such is the awfulness of the situation they allowed notorious local bigot and Beestonia regular Darren ‘BNP’ Warner on board recently.

So, what conclusions can we draw from this mess? Why did Councillor Crow take against Steph and her potato fan with such vociferous energy? Could it be to do with wanting to protect a friend’s business, a local outlet that is frequently featured in Anna Soubry’s newsletter? Is this the way Kimberley works now, that unless you’re mates with the ruling party you are about as welcome as a fart in a crowded lift?

Perhaps before she does the honorable thing and resign, Councillor Crow can explain?

Every tier of Tory-ran Government, from the national picture to the town council, seems in disarray. let’s start zooming in:

NATION (UK): I’m writing this on a Friday afternoon so the government might have fell since I last checked, so there is no point in trying to give an overview on the appalling state of affairs. Our own MP is at war with her own government, it seems.

BOROUGH (Broxtowe): The Town Hall debacle, which my predecessor on this blog covered extensively, will actually COST £100,000+ to sell, rather than making bringing in any extra revenue. A public asset is being not just given away, but costing a huge amount of money -your money- to give away.

TOWN(Kimberley): See the mess above.

Every single one of these screw-ups was easily avoidable. All of these screw-ups were down to arrogance, inter-party politics and an absolute disregard for the people they serve. Remember that when they come knocking for your vote early next year.

FLAT EARTHERS

A couple of weeks ago I had cause to walk across Nottingham Market Square, and seeing a stall decided to see what it is pushing. I was half expecting a worthy environmental cause, or perhaps one of those strangely niche far-left organisations that somehow cling on to the hope tomorrow will be the first day of the Glorious Revolution. However, what I found outdid even the most zealous Stalinist in terms of utter delusion. For this was a stall of flat-earthers.

I remember a time when the term ‘flat-earther’ was a useful term to apply to the craziest ideas, the least logical and most far-off opinions. The Flat Earth Society was all but dormant, aside from a few over-ironic folk who probably thought the words’ wacky’ and ‘zany’ were perfectly fine to use, especially when wearing a comedy tie.

I stood by the stall a while and watched. I tried to assess what led people to be so determinedly evangelical about such an easily-refuted idea. One of the stall-holders was arguing with a guy I ascertained was probably a scientist. The latter chap was explaining clearly that the earth was demonstrably, irrefutably an oblate spheroid, in a calm, polite mannered voice. Yet the flat-earther was wide-eyed, barking back that it was ‘fake, fake, fake’. The (presumed) scientist used rationality to back up his arguments; these were countered by ‘You have to watch this video on YouTube’. I watched, incredulous, resisted a temptation to ask if flat-earth belief was a global phenomenon, and made my way across the slabs.

Which brings us neatly to Broxtowe Tories.

I haven’t written anything since the vote on the Town Hall. Some of you will have heard I’ve quit writing about politics. That’s sort of true, I’ll explain later. Before I do stop though, I want to fire some parting shots on why the current crop of Conservative councillors at Broxtowe Borough Council are up there with Flat Earthers as evidence-ignoring, dogma-dripping enemies of reason*.

Many of you will have attended the very packed full-council meeting to decide the Town Hall fate. Many of you would have had their first experience of such a meeting. Most of you will have been utterly horrified at the level of debate. I followed from home – childcare commitments and an ongoing complaint with the council meant it was impossible to attend – but I followed from home.

I was also sent a full audio recording of the meeting. I’ll be putting that online soon, with subtitles (the audio is a bit iffy, even with editing), and let you judge for yourself. Face still unpunched? When you get to the part about how Sarah Palin is a shining example of Evangelical Christianity I’m afraid that even Neo-Buddha will be mashing their fist in their face.

Very real concerns such as the blatant conflict of interest of Ruth Hyde and an officer overseeing the process were shrugged off. Claims that the sale will stick a million into council coffers were put out, despite being demonstrably untrue. Councillor Richard Jackson and the majority of his councillors (that he allows to speak) are, and I say this dispassionately and as a statement of fact, liars. They have lied on record and I explicitly state this and invite them to sue me if they feel it to be untrue. They have lied in public office. They are a disgrace to democracy, but very much with the spirit of the times.

The argument was, of course, turned from the one we clearly set out as objections into ‘These godless heathens at Beestonia Towers are goat-worshipping haters of Christianity and this is driven purely by that’, as predicted. Lies were told, smears were smeared, and the narrative was purposely changed because the actual concerns – see Beestonia passim – are irrefutable. If you can’t deal with reality, make your own.

Which gets us back to the flat-earthers. Add to them Donald Trump, who lies with such

Jackson and Hyde. Nothing to see here, folks.

abandon fact-checkers just shrug their shoulders and prepare for another late night of evidenced refutation. It’s contagious: the rise of far-right populism embodied in unironically named ‘strong men’ (have you ever seen such a thin-skinned, fragile-ego, emotionally-stunted bunch in your life?) has spread around (along?) the world. Lies become canon. Orwell’s dystopia was a system of rationality where you wouldn’t just say that 2+2=5, you’d absolutely believe it, and love those that told you it to be true.

It’s a global mess, spurred on by those who have repurposed the word ‘elite’ to something that best describes them to ‘anyone who has ever read a book’. Broxtowe has been infected by this virulence, and it is almost utterly galling.

Yet there is hope. We can turn the tide.

Of course, the most obvious, if not immediate, is to vote the idiocracy out. There are elections in May. While Beeston has no Tories in it (which is why they like to give the town a kicking), they do exist in the hinterlands: Bramcote, Chilwell and Attenborough. They will come knocking for your vote in a few months. When you find them on your doorstep, (politely) explain why they won’t be getting it. And actually, bloody well vote. Local elections have appalling turn-outs but are often the most directly important ballot you’ll be asked to cast.

If you’d like to do something now – heck, there might not even be a council very soon to vote on if Jackson gets his way – then here’s a few tips:

There is potentially going to be a legal challenge against the Town Hall sale, keep your eyes peeled. Donations and/or pro-bono help will be required.

Listen to the audio when I post it later this week, and read the annotated fact-checks. Get angry.

Write to the National Secular Society. I’ve been in touch and am progressing a case, but more support will only strengthen this process.

Write to your councillor -especially if your ward is represented by a Conservative. Ask them to justify the sale, and beware the traps and false-narratives they’ll try and foist on you.

Write to our MP – politely -and again, don’t let her twist it away from the facts, as she is wont to do.

Take a stand. Make Planet Earth Spherical Again.

T.T.F.N!

As a few of you will be aware, I (Matt) will be calling it a day with this blog in its current form.

When I started this place up it was intended to be a fairly whimsical take on my town in the style of one of my journalistic heroes, Byron Rogers . Politics was an accident: in 2010 I wrote a couple of pieces about the forthcoming election and they were well received. I live-blogged the count when such a thing was not done by the more established media organisations, and it turned out to be a winner. I also started to get my first bits of hate-mail, but it was easy to ignore.

Back then, covering Beeston/ Broxtowe politics meant I was merely one perspective out of many. The Nottingham Post had dedicated patch reporters who would cover just about every council meeting and keep a watchful eye on whatever shenanigans shook out of the Town Hall, the BBC was pretty well-funded locally and the Beeston Express was still active.

That plurality started drying up rapidly. The Nottingham Post vastly reduced its coverage, the BBC cut back allocated budgets and the Beeston Express has gone into seemingly eternal hiatus. This is a common story across the UK: as the business model of the commercial media is diverted into digital ad spends, and the license fee is at the whim of the Department of Media, Culture and Sport, oversight gets drained away, and politicians are emboldened to behave appallingly.

This is not an attack on the aforementioned media organisations. The Post has a fine local journo in Kit Sandeman, who I’ve found to be diligent and smart in his work. Tony Roe at the BBC got a cracking scoop with his Redwood Crescent exposé (a story that is far from over, and if my sources are sound, will hopefully see the police asking a certain councillor some interesting questions) and his award-winning colleague Hugh Casswell is a bright young talent. Yet resources being what they are, and with their beat being rather huge (the complex move towards unitary councils alone is a massive amount of work to cover) things are easily overlooked.

This has left this blog taking on a role it never really asked for: the first place people come to when a story needs to be covered locally. It’s a real honour in many ways, but a tremendous responsibility. Breaking the Broxtowe Scandal story earlier this year was something Tom and I are very proud of: the sources that came forward and trusted us were terrific, the bravery of those willing to stick their heads above the parapet inspiring. Broxtowe Borough Council really is an organisation that fits the phrase ‘lions led by donkeys’ to a tee.

Yet it takes its toll. The hate-mail – vastly in the minority, but disproportionately lingering after reading -puts you on edge. It now usually comes via anonymous email (ironically where a method used by many of my best sources to cover themselves from leaking). The legal worries that accompany publishing allegations are often overwhelming: this makes the level of fact-checking involved a lengthy, often tedious process**.

Verifying sources, scouring documents, interviewing, researching, writing then rewriting then rewriting then rewriting – it takes time and patience. I currently have both in short supply***.

The responsibility is occasionally terrible. If we are leaked a story, or fed a strong lead, then to not research and publish it is akin to being complicit in the sin committed. Who else, after all, will cover it? “I always wondered why someone didn’t do something about that” runs the activist meme “Until I realised I was someone”. I’ve never aspired to political office. I’ve never felt tribal towards a political party. I’ve definitely not done this for money. I simply love where I live, and feel obliged to defend it.

Over the past few years, I’ve been very lucky in life. I get paid to write in a job I love. I meet fascinating, phenomenally talented people I’d once never have dreamt of being able to talk to. The Beestonian magazine goes from strength to strength. A play I’ve co-written is getting some very encouraging attention. And best of all, I have a wonderful wife and a beautiful son (who turns two next week). All these things bring me joy, happiness, a decent wage and a faith in humans.

Politics does none of those things. So it has to go.

However, I have given Tom the keys to this blog**** and I hope he accepts. He has the energy, the brains and the prose-panache well beyond my reach. I am very lucky to have found him, and when he is writing for huge publications I will be proud to say he cut his teeth here.

I’m also looking into how to train up community journalists professionally: after a decade I’ve picked up a lot I would love to pass on.

I will not miss the meetings. I will not miss the anxiety. I will not miss the reams of documents that get anonymously dropped into my inbox with no instructions to where the treasure is buried. It’s been fun, and I hope I’ve made a bit of a difference in illuminating local government. It’s been a riotous blast. Thanks for reading, and the loveliness I’ve received over the years.

And if you’d like to buy me a pint…well, I’m not going to stop you. I’ll use any donations over the price of a pint to buy time for Tom and I to hand-over (probably in a pub, for efficiency). Drop us a couple of quid by clicking here: ta Matt have one on me. Bye bye, I’ll miss you, and remember, it’s not you, it’s me xx

_____________________

* No, it isn’t just Tories. I remember a cringingly awful debate in the Town Hall about global warming, when a Labour councillor, thankfully long-departed from office, explained that polar ice cap melting was not an issue due to observations he’d made with the ice in his scotch. I was willing the world to end after hearing his logic.

*** This post alone has taken the best part of a day to put together. The irony of writing about how little time I have while spending that time moaning about how little time I have is not lost on me.

**** I’m personally hoping he covers a story about how a local Tory councillor has been expressly told he isn’t allowed to stand in May, after being removed from Soubry’s office after making a series of angry and threatening misogynistic remarks. I’ll spare naming him for now, and instead, put up a random photo of a councillor.

Today is D-Day folks. The day the Town Hall may be, by consent of elected members of Broxtowe Borough Council, be moved from the public – who built it 82 years ago for us to proudly use in perpertuity, into private hands.

A few things to remember.

1. This was not in any councillor’s manifesto. Not a single one. There are elections in May: if they are confident this is what the people want, let them present the case then and let us decide.

2. The bid process, as has been repeatedly shown, has been flawed the whole way. The bidding system was unequal, opaque (until we leaked it) and bizarre gagging orders were attempted to be imposed on the community bid as a condition of bidding.

3. The church bid was pushed as the best option by an officer who himself was connected to the Evangelical Alliance, the umbrella group of churches that also cover the winning bid.

4. The final oversight of the bid process lies with the the Chief Executive. We have shown her connections to the Evangelical Alliance suggest conflicts of interest. These should have been declared.

5. The Chief Executive’s husband was also shown to be a senior member of a church which was also part of the Evangelical Alliance. Again, this is an undeclared conflict of interest

6. People have claimed that the Evangelical Alliance is somehow a broad church encompassing many different varients of faith. However, the EA threw the Oasis Church group out of its organisation when it showed a more liberal approach to homosexuality. This suggests a rigid system of beliefs that is not compatible with providing truly inclusive community services.

7. The church has stated it would use community usage as a recruitment tool. This again is not compatible with a truly community asset

8. Churches, mosques, temples etc are absolutely fine buying property for their own use on the open market. Their members are free to worship as they choose. That is the beauty of a free, open, secular society. However , this is not the open market, and the decision to give the church the Town Hall can be interpreted as an effective subsidy – our council tax being used to further the church’s aims. The other part of the deal that respects the freedom of religion – that is freedom FROM religion – is not being kept here.

9. As has been detailed by Jim Donaghie, who has vast expertise in the field, as the building houses servers for two Borough councils, secure relocation costs will amount to a huge figure that will leave the money accrued from the sale vastly depleted.

10. There has still been no coherent position on where a new council chamber with public access will be located.

11. There are several legal procedures not fully undertook as part of the process. I am afraid I have been advised to not yet make public what these are, but I have pushed them on to a Beeston councillor.

12. The whole narrative of the town hall has a huge elephant in the room- that is WHY are the council selling a public asset we built for ourselves 82 years ago? The answer is that they have squandered hundreds of thousands of pounds on legal fees and temporary staff to hide a long-standing scandal entirely of their own making. They have not challenged central government on why Broxtowe receives one of the worst local government settlements in England: to make sure they do not rock the boat and potentially jeopardise their career. Their own personal ambitions have supplanted public service

Tonight we can show them that this will not stand. Until every one of the 12 points above are effectively answered, the sale must not proceed. Their is no mandate.

It is important you show the councillors who they actually work for. They are our servants. It is our Town Hall. We are a strong, diverse inclusive community and we can stop this and restore some faith in local democracy.

Town Hall set to be sold to Evangelical Church tomorrow

Further links between Cheif Executive and Evangelical Alliance

Call for public inquiry into Town Hall sale.

Our last post calling into question the impartiality of the bidding process for the Town Hall drew a strong reaction, and with that, some bizarre accusations.

One recurring one, which looks very much like a coordinated attack, claims we are ‘anti-Christian’ and are doing this out of spite towards the church.

This is absolutely untrue. As stated before, a secular, liberal democracy works on the principle of freedom of religion coupled with freedom from religion. That is, as a fan of secularism, a principle we live by and allows us to have friends who are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindi and so on. It is the backbone of a diverse and tolerant society. This concerted attempt to create a false narrative that we are all anti–theists, rather than concerned citizens demanding due-dilligence, is pretty nasty

There is also an argument that perhaps the Broxtowe Chief Executive, Ruth Hyde is only a peripheral figure in her involvement with the Evangelical Alliance, and while she may appear in the newsletter we showed last post, the association ends there.

Well, seemingly not.

Here is the website of Sutton Bonington Baptist Church, which is also under the Evangelical Alliance umbrella.

It’s listed on the Evangelical Alliance’s own website as a church under its banner

Who is this chap, mentioned as part of the leadership team?

It seems that not only is the Chief Executive’s husband a member of an evangelical church, but an elder and part of their leadership team.

Now, of course this might be a different Ruth Hyde mentioned. But if not, this is another link that surely should have been registered as a conflict of interest. Otherwise the decision-making process, where the buck stops with the Chief Executive, could look compromised.

Another slew of social media comments on our last blog made allegations of ‘brown envelopes’, ‘backhanders’ and suchlike in relation to the whole matter. We categorically DO NOT believe that is the case and still hold on to the belief that most people at the council, including councillors of all parties, are decent people with a love for the community. However, we also believe that to maintain trust in politics all perceived conflicts of interest must be declared.

That is the case we are stating. Let’s hope that’s what the one the council responds to tomorrow (Wednesday) night.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF BROXTOWE BOROUGH COUNCIL HAS LINKS TO EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE

RELIGIOUS GROUP ALSO CONTAINS REDEEMER CHURCH – WHO WILL BE HANDED TOWN HALL ON WEDNESDAY

NO RECORD OF CHIEF EXEC DECLARING CONFLICT OF INTEREST

SENIOR OFFICER, PART OF BID EVALUATION, PREVIOUSLY SHOWN TO HAVE LINKS TO EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE

BROXTOWE MUST HALT PROCESS IMMEDIATELY; CALL FOR INDEPENDENT ENQUIRY

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The efforts to flog the town hall have long been mired in controversy. It is an unpopular move to save a failing council at a time when their own financial mismanagement has slowly eaten away at reserves. However, the actual tendering process has raised serious questions about the council’s impartiality.

Was this link declared? As the buck stops at the council with Ruth, if she has not made her link to the recommended bid from the church, then this does not look good.

It should be made clear at this point that the Beestonian has no issue with Christianity. Our problem originates not with the Evangelical Alliance’s religion but with their approach to the LGBT+ community and women. One of our two major contributors, Tom Roberts, is bisexual and has had unpleasant encounters with the Alliance’s teachings. Ultimately Beeston prides itself on being an open and tolerant space and our civic buildings should not be sold on to a group that judges members based on their sexuality.

A tolerant, secular democracy is defined by a simple attitude to faith: there should be freedom OF religion; there should be freedom FROM religion. As the Town Hall is meant to be used for community usage, and the nature of the sale effectively subsidises the church. That’ll be with YOUR council tax.

This follows hot on the heels of the council dismissing one of its senior officers on charges that appear to relate to preferential deals (watch this space). This was the one successful outcome (out of four!) for the council from its year-long investigation into former council officers (see Beestonia passim)and suggests that the council takes potential misconduct very very seriously. We are sure they will apply this same scrutiny to those involved in the town hall sell-off.

What Can I Do?

We get this asked frequently: people feel powerless. The next elections are in May, by which time the Town Hall will be lost and Broxtowe if the experts at the LGA are correct, will be bankrupt and consumed by Nottinghamshire County Council, and local democracy further eroded. We can not wait. Here is what you CAN do:

On Wednesday (17th October), at 6.45pm, the full council will meet in the very same Town Hall they are looking to sell. This meeting will see the councillors who represent you vote on whether to hand over the building to the church, rather than the strong, viable and truly inclusive community bid put forward at the same time as the Church bid. We want you there, in the public gallery. It’s free because it’s your democracy. At least for now.

Add your name to this letter being put forward by Beeston resident: simply leave your details in the comments on this article, or email me confidentially and we will pass your details onto Ed: mattgoold23@hotmail.com. You can also, if a member of the Beeston Updated Facebook group, ask to be included: https://www.facebook.com/groups/815338891820008/permalink/2112873665399851/

Write to your councillor. THEY work for YOU. Put forward your concerns politely that the sale is flawed and a public, independent inquiry should be put in place before any sale happens. Who is your councillor? Armed with just your postcode, you can find out here, with contact details.

Write to your MP. Yes, we have had our battles with Anna Soubry in the past, and she has been surprisingly taciturn on this issue, but we believe she would not like to see local democracy damaged and community ignored in the way the council are planning. Politely contact her on anna.soubry.mp@parliament.uk.

Don’t lose hope. We have this one last chance to ensure that the much-loved totem of local democracy stays in public ownership. We can do this.

Jim Donaghie is a community activist committed to keeping the Town Hall in public hands. After last night’s announcement that the building will be recommended to full council to be sold to a church group with some pretty nasty views, he comments here:

Before I start I must declare my interest at this point, I strongly advocate the retention of the town hall for use within the community.
Many of you will be aware that Broxtowe Borough Council, (BCC), are currently looking at the disposal of Beeston Town Hall. The point which has now been reached is that the council are preferring “community” bids as opposed to developer offers. The process has reached the point where two bidders remain, the Beeston Town hall Community, (BTHC) bid and a bid from The Redeemer Church, a “plant” offshoot of the large Cornerstone church situated on Castle Boulevard in Nottingham.
The BTHC bid centres around leasing the Town Hall from the council and running it as a charity run community hub, offering meeting space for local clubs and organisations with the possibility of expanding into other areas of community benefit.
The Redeemer church bid is purely to turn the Town Hall into one of their churches, where they can hold Sunday services and host other church-related group activities through the week.
In the interests of investigating whether both organisations could benefit from use of the town hall, meetings were held between the two groups. The BTHC group was more than happy to offer the church the use of the town hall on Sundays and rooms through the week for their groups, however the church position was that they wanted sole ownership of the building for their own use and therefore a compromise could not be reached.
It has now been announced today, that the recommendations of the BCC officers to the council, is that the Town hall be sold to the Redeemer church.
Whilst I accept I am biased on the subject and this may be seen as sour grapes I’d like to make a couple of points that may not have been obvious or known.
When the church says theirs is a “community” bid, they mean their own community not the wider community of Beeston. On their own website, they declare that the church is a member of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches and the Evangelical Alliance. Both of these organisations are strictly against homosexuality and single-sex marriage. They are fiercely Christian organisations. It is the position of both organisations that all pastors and elders within their churches are all male, as they say that is what their scriptures teach.
Suddenly their “community” is getting smaller, don’t apply if you are homosexual, don’t apply if you follow any religion other than evangelical Christianity, and don’t apply if you are a woman, if you have any aspirations of leadership.
Can anyone really say this is a “community” bid in the spirit that I’m sure the council meant?

I would ask anyone that wants the town hall to remain the property of the people of Beeston to contact their local councillors, (details on the BCC website), and tell them what you think and do it now. The full council meeting is on the 17th of October and I would also urge anyone with an interest to attend that meeting to show their support for the property of the people of Beeston, to remain our property.

Councillor Owen ‘Must step down or be sacked’

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Beestonia was right: Borough to be swallowed by County.

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Councillor Philip Owen is no stranger to these pages, having pursued a personal crusade of nastiness during his tenure as a Borough and County Councillor. He has struck again, and we think it’s time for him to step down.

Lisa Clarke, nurse, mother and feminist activist tells us why

This week in an official Nottinghamshire County Council meeting of the Children’s Committee, a meeting where councillors decide how our money is spent on supporting and protecting our children, Chair of the committee Philip Owen publicly stated that the police policy to prioritise domestic violence, modern slavery and hate crime was “political correctness gone mad”.

When questioned later about his comments in a radio interview he went on to state that the police only focus on these matters because it is fashionable to do so. Finally, he added that these issues were not the priority of his constituents who were more concerned with shed break-ins and robberies.

The councillor’s comments have rightly been widely criticised by commentators and attracted local media coverage. Leader of the Labour Group, Alan Rhodes, has asked Philip Owen to “consider his position”, intimating that he should at least resign his chairmanship of the committee in question. But, assuming Councillor Owen does not choose to voluntarily resign, what is the long-term impact for Nottingham County residents?

Already the local radio coverage has largely reduced this to a poor use of language. The concept of “mis-speaking” is a popular get out clause at present for politicians at all levels. In truth, the attitude that this betrays and the consequence of what has been said is both damaging and wide reaching.

Cllr Philip Owen, alert as ever. Will Kay Cutts and Richard Jackson do the right thing and throw him out the party?

Nottingham has only recently been celebrated as a beacon of good practice in terms of it’s handling of misogyny and hate crime – an approach so successful it has been proposed that it should be rolled out nationwide. So can Councillor Owen really single-handedly undermine our progressive stance?

Well, for a start, he is being very modest both about the power he wields and his scope of responsibility. As a County Councillor Owen has a far bigger remit than simply representing his own constituency. Every member of a committee contributes to decisions made that affect funding and provision of services for the whole area of Nottinghamshire County. In this case, as chair, Owen is responsible for ensuring that the issues and services most vital to our children and families are discussed, prioritised and adequately resourced and funded. We rely on this man – and the team he chairs – to provide effective care and support for the children in our area.

At the very least Councillor Owen’s words show an alarming lack of knowledge about domestic abuse and its wider effects on children and families. For a start, it seems he is judging the priorities of his constituents based on what he hears most in conversation. People talk to him about robbery of their sheds and houses and these, therefore, are the matters of most importance. By contrast, he appears to insinuate that because he is rarely approached about domestic violence, that it is not a significant issue; that it, therefore, does not warrant the same level of his time and consideration, or, in turn, the funding he part controls.

The very nature of domestic violence is that victims do not often talk about it openly, especially given that women (the overwhelming majority of its victims) are so often living under threat of harm to themselves or their children. In fact, they avoid talking about it, not just because it is deeply personal and difficult area of their lives, but because talking about it would be likely to threaten the safety of them and their family even further. The most dangerous time for any victim of domestic violence is when they try to leave.

Given their circumstances and experience, I am hard pressed to think of a less likely confidante for any woman in this predicament than a middle-aged, middle-class, male councillor with a reputation for nastiness and a void of empathy, so it is hardly surprising that this is not a matter Owen has to face on a regular basis. In fact given that his views on the matter have now been publicly shared, he has just made that far less likely, and indeed removed any chance that someone might view him as a route to support.

There are multiple barriers for women escaping abuse in seeking and receiving support: actual physical danger of attack, fear, feeling that you are responsible, lack of refuge places or family support. Congratulations to him for having just put up another obstacle!

This is the highest level ever recorded. In short therefore, even if he was not chairing a committee (a role which affords him a substantially increased allowance) and even if Owen’s only responsibility as a councillor were to his own constituents in Kimberley and Nuthall, it is highly unlikely that he could afford not to prioritise domestic violence support in his area.

The scale and impact of statistically proven male violence against their partners, in the home, is such that it is highly likely that at least one person in the very room in which Owen spoke these heinous words is experiencing or has experienced a form of domestic abuse themselves. It also means that, potentially, one in every four of the women he claims to represent may need domestic violence support at some point.

NSPCC data that suggests that over 140,000 children in the UK live in households where high-risk domestic abuse takes place. This means there is serious risk of injury or death. The most basic training in Child protection teaches that the existence of domestic violence in a home is one of the single most important indicators of risk of harm to a child. This is why if police attend an incident in a family home they HAVE to report it to children’s social services.

This is without even considering the long-term psychological damage and life-limiting potential of witnessing a parent abused by another parent. Let us not forget that children are victims of domestic abuse too. It is both truly terrifying and unforgivable that the Chair of the children’s committee at Nottingham County Council is so very ignorant of this matter. By not recognising domestic abuse as an issue – including as an issue for children – not only he is doing them a disservice, he is potentially complicit in their ongoing entrapment and abuse.

When it comes to attitudes around violence in relationships and families we all have a choice – to be part of the problem, or to be part of the solution. It’s clear he has chosen his side. We the people of Nottingham County can only hope he reconsiders. The consequences if he doesn’t will be severely damaging. Will Kay Cutts now ask for his resignation from the County Council, and will Richard Jackson do similar for the Borough? If they truly believe in Theresa May’s stated belief in tackling domestic violence and modern slavery, then they will. If they are happy to serve with a bigotted misogynist in their ranks, expect him to be spouting more ignorance at the next council meeting. LISA CLARKE.

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TOWN HALL UPDATE

Apologies for the delay in this update: as you will know if you follow my other week, i’ve been rather busy.

I wrote the following on Facebook immediately after the meeting:

Right, a quick synopsis of the council meeting tonight regarding the Town Hall.

Before I was leaked the confidential papers about the bidding process to keep the building in the community, the council were ready to vote to make sure that that bid would not be accepted, and that the Church bid would be the only one going forward.

We changed that. Thanks to whoever leaked the document to me, the people who subsequently analysed it, and all those who turned up tonight – they all made the council keep the community bid in the running. It’s not the war won, just a battle, and there will plenty more fights to come.

They didn’t accept this defeat lightly, however. The Leader of the Council, Conservative Richard Jackson called the leak and the exposure of the conflicts of interest as ‘disgusting’ ‘untrue’ and claimed I was a member of the community bid – I’m not and the community bid will be lodging a formal complaint as such.

But the leak shone a light where it needed to be shone and exposed the council. They claimed it was a ‘disgrace of democracy’. I would argue quite the opposite – the disgrace lies solely with the ruling party of the council, who for personal gain hate transparency, hate public input, hate democracy.

The fight continues. Thank you, everyone.

So, a victory of sorts for the community bid, although it is clear the council are desperate to get the building off their hands as soon as feasibly possible.

But again, I attended a council meeting and was subject to being lied to and my professional reputation trashed by councillors that write about – with no right of reply. I do have an outstanding complaint, which was, by the council’s own guidelines, should have been dealt with in 20 days. It’s now 120. As such, I’ve opened a complaint with the Local Government Ombudsman on this failure by the council to reserve the case, and will be taking further legal action in due course. The council treating the people they are tasked to serve abysmally? Well, what a neat way to segue into the Redwood Crescent debacle….

BROXTOWE BUILDING SCANDAL: COUNCIL NOT OUT OF THE (RED)WOODS YET

I visited Redwood Crescent on a warm day back in May, and met Kris Poole and Robert Pitchfork to talk about what was happening on their street. What they told me shocked me: and as regular readers of this blog know the utter ineptitude of the current administration I intended to write up a piece a few days later, but circumstances conspired and a few months on it still sits half written and much-added to on my hard drive.

In brief – very brief, because the amount of stuff the wonderfully tenacious Poole and Pitchfork have turned up deserves to be given credit, and will be published soon – Broxtowe bought up a row of garages on Redwood Crescent and sold them at a startling discount to a company, Precision, that was ran by a guy who’d already screwed up a build in North Notts. The developers then built some atrocious houses – or rather, didn’t build them, leaving them an absolute eyesore in the centre of the close. Who allowed this, and who knew what seems to either point to gross ineptitude, or something rather more sinister and corrupt. If info I’ve received recently checks out, we can assume the latter and expect a few arrests down the line. Small consolation for the residents, who have to live with this mess on their street.

As with any brewing scandal, the story moves fast, and from what I heard happened at full council when residents got to ask (carefully pre-approved) questions to the council. As usual, they were stonewalled:

To Cllr Kerry The council’s Garage Strategy put forward the option of demolishing garages in order to redevelop land for affordable housing. Can you please explain how the sale of land at Redwood Crescent to a developer who then wants to rent them out for over £1000 per month fits with this?

Cllr Kerry: “Due to an ongoing international investigation, legal advice is that I am unable to talk about this”.

To Cllr Jackson: When did you first become aware of possible improprieties in the way that the land at Redwood Crescent was handled and how did you attempt to rectify that situation for the benefit of residents?

Cllr Jackson: After taking external legal advice I am unable to answer until internal investigation has concluded. Investigation findings will be published as soon as allowed.

Open, transparent, democratic. None of these words are in Kerry or Jackson’s vocabulary, it seems. Perhaps after sacking Councillor Owen, Councillor Jackson can also do the honourable thing and follow?

He won’t obvs, but maybe something else will force his hand. If it’s not an impending criminal charge (watch this space) then maybe it will be the civil war in his own party. Yes, the Tory Brexit schism has hit Broxtowe….

SOUBZ V DODDY: THE BATTLE GOES ON.

Broxtowe Councillor John ‘This budget will stop cancer‘ Doddy is also the chair of Broxtowe Conservatives but isn’t content to swim in such a small pond. What he really craves, and which sources close to him tell me has become an obsession, is to be an MP himself. There is one impediment to this: we already have one here. I’ve written about her once or twice.

Yet this is a party where Brutus would feel great kinship, where Boris Johnson’s personal ambition overrides any sense of duty; where the whip’s office seethes with conspiracy and threats; where Jacob Rees Mogg can seize power in a coup so subtle we’re only just realising it’s happened. Doddy decided to try the ol’ dark arts himself.

Seeing that Soubz was in a position of vulnerability through assuming the pariah status of the Tory’s voice of anti-Hard Brexit, and noting her small majority will disappear when the next election is called (November?) due to a resurgent UKIP targetting her seat, he decided to survey local members on their thoughts on her performance. The results of this would then be very powerful ammo for calling for her deselection, and leave the path clear for Doddy to march into the Commons.

Unfortunately, he bungled it, and Soubry got wind of the survey and hit back in the strongest terms. I’ve printed it in full here as it is quite scathing, and gives some startling insight into the workings of the local Tory party:

Stung, Doddy put his tail between his legs and retreated, sending Soubry this contrite-soaked reply:

Blimey. And just as internal divisions within the party in Westminster put the public well behind their own careers, so to in Broxtowe. Wonder why your complaint hasn’t been dealt with, why Councillors ignore you, why that bit about ‘representing residents’ seems secondary to their own ladder-climb? Wonder no longer.

BROXTOWE: SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER.

You’ve probably heard of the plans to abolish Broxtowe, and have the county council absorb it and other borough councils. I have been predicting this for some time and pointing out that the trashing and degradation of a once-great council is not an accident, it is ideology. I was accused of scare-mongering and peddling conspiracy theories about this, but its now proven to be true. This story obviously deserves more than a brief footnote, and I will try and do it justice soon. For now, any financial help to keep this blog running and allow me to take time out of freelancing to write it is appreciated: https://www.paypal.me/BEESTONIA